Dealings and Feelings
by nemozyme
Summary: Zuko is foolishly head over heels with Katara. Aang's playing tricks on everyone. Iroh takes Sokka under his wing and all Toph wants is her cliff.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Dealings and Feelings  
**By:** nemozyme a.k.a. stratowhick  
**Pairing:** tophxzuko  
**Genre:** Romance  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

**Summary:** Zuko is foolishly head over heels with Katara. Aang's playing tricks on everyone. Iroh takes Sokka under his wing and all Toph wants is her cliff.

.One.

Toph was on her way to her favorite spot.

The Great Canyon of the Fire Nation was the perfect place to relax for an Earth Bender like Toph. There were huge cliffs on either side of a river that ran towards the setting sun. It was rocky and dusty and there was just so much earth in that place.

It may look like a dead piece of land to some lowlife. But to Toph, the Great Canyon was an Earth Bender's heaven on the elemental world.

The canyon wasn't a secret per se. Its just that the terrain towards the canyon was dangerous so there were rarely people over there. Only the occasional archeologists and healers looking for a rare and important find.

So as Toph earth bended her way towards a cliff, she was surprised to feel a presence when she arrived on top. She quickly identified this presence as Zuko, prince of the Fire Nation.

"Chill, Fire Prince."

Toph revealed herself, coming out behind a boulder with her hands high up in the air.

"Oh, it's just you." Zuko eased his fighting stance and sheathed his double scimitars back. There was a pause then Zuko cleared his throat.

"Hey there," he said in forced casualness. "How's it going?"

"It's going great," she answered, purposely making her tone flippant. "What's the matter, Sulky Prince? You don't look like--"

"And how would you know how I look?" Zuko cut her off sharply.

"Just a figure of speech," Toph defended. "Geez."

Toph suddenly regretted revealing herself to the Prickly Prince. She could've just been sensible and looked for another cliff to relax and watch the sun set. It didn't matter that there was a 'TOPH RULES' inscription on this cliff's side. She could just get Aang to make her another one, in another cliff, among millions of others.

She was all ready to bid her rude good-bye and leave when she heard Zuko sigh a pitiful sigh.

It sounded so Path-e-tic.

And serious at the same time.

So even if the insults, the jeers, and the hearty laugh were on the tip of her tongue, she managed to hold them all back. Just barely.

Completely ignoring the 'Go Away' vibe, Toph plopped down beside Zuko.

"So. What's the matter?" she tried again. "Why do I _feel_that you don't look right?"

"And why do you care, Blind Bat-shit?"

Toph wondered how other people managed to be nice _all_the time. Because from her experience, when she tries to be nice, they throw it back to her face.

"Just get your ugly face out of my sight, alright?"

Toph growled and clenched her fists in irritation. _Why do I even bother?_

"Look here, Prickly Prince," Toph demanded. "Just tell me what's wrong with you, so you can get the heck off of my cliff!"

Zuko scoffed. "Your cliff? For the last thousand years, this territory's been under the Fire Nation. This cliff is as good as mine than it is yours, Earth Ben--DER!"

Taking advantage of Zuko's blabbing, Toph earth bended the two of them underground and towards the side of the cliff where she knew the inscription was located.

"Oh, so now you want to keep my mouth shut and bury me?!" Zuko exclaimed indignantly as they resurfaced on canyon soil bended like a spoon coming out of the cliff.

"See there, Princey," she indicated with a nod of her head. "That, is a testament of my ownership of this fine cliff."

"It says AANG RULEZ."

"_WHAT?!_" Toph squeeked. The soil-spoon suddenly shook dangerously. "That Aang tricked me! Argh! Avatar or not, he's going down!"

"Good for him. Can we go back now?"

Toph ceased the shaking and sensed Zuko's increased heart rate, his shortness of breath and the very, very slight inflection of his voice. These symptoms could mean one thing, Toph grinned wickedly. A fear of great heights and the bottom of the unknown!

She bended the soil-spoon into a rocket and made sure that it crumbled Aang's work of art first before it zoomed upwards.

Zuko lost his cool and scampered on the ground when they reached the top of the cliff. He looked a little green but Toph had no mercy. She quickly grabbed the back of his collar and threateningly showed him the inky black bottom of the cliff.

"Talk. Or I'll shove you down."

Prince Zuko refused to budge to such threats that easily. He scowled and glared but eventually, he sighed tiredly in defeat. "It's Katara," he answered quietly. "She always runs off when she sees me. Even if I corner her down and try to chat her up, she completely brushes me off."

Toph didn't know how to reply to that. She thought that it was just another I-lost-to-Aang-in-another-sparring-match kind of problem but it turned out to be some yucky girl problem. _Which_, Toph thought, _I have no clue in such area_. So she remained quiet and let him continue.

"It's like I have this disgusting plague!" Zuko said bitterly. "Tell me, does she have anything against scars?"

Toph groaned loudly. "Could you put a cork to that vanity crisis?" She threw Zuko to safe land and plopped beside him. "It's more like she has something against you being a Fire Nation citizen, if you ask me."

"But the four nations have come into peace three years ago!" Zuko argued heatedly. "We may have our differences and mistakes, but we now live under a harmonious whole."

Toph wanted to laugh heartily at Zuko's naivety but somehow, she managed to control herself.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Prickly Prince. But some prejudices aren't easily erased," she pointed out. "The Fire Nation has wrecked havoc in the world for more than a hundred years. In my tabulation table, it beats three years of peace by a landslide."

"Well, what am I gonna do then?" he complained. "Wait for another hundred years so then it'll be equal?"

"That is possible," Toph nodded in agreement, "or you could simply forget about her and just choose another one from your fangirl harem. I highly recommend you pick someone from the Fire Nation because they have less conflicting beliefs."

As soon as she said that, Toph felt Zuko's anger rise like bubbling magma.

"I CAN'T. JUST. FORGET ABOUT HER!" Zuko exploded, as if by saying the word "forget", he'll do exactly that. "Katara is sweet and caring and beautiful!" he defended. "I _know_she's the perfect girl for me. I already like her too much to just give up on her that easily," he added softly.

"Well then, if I can't change your mind..." Toph began in a serious tone, "...good luck convincing her that she's the one for you." She rose and stretched out. "I have a feeling you'll be needing it."

"So, that's it? Just good luck?" Zuko stared in disbelief. "After pouring my heart out, you're not even going to help me?"

"But I just did."

"Well then, help me more!"

Toph snorted. "Or what? You're gonna set me ablaze? Please. I can take on a spoiled rotten prince like you anytime."

"If Katara becomes my girlfriend, I won't bother you with anything ever again," Zuko declared. "You have my word."

When Toph remained silent and unimpressed, Zuko changed tactics. "T-Toph, please," he stuttered uncharacteristically. "Now that you know my problem, I need your help. I mean...you-you're friends with Katara, right? Don't you want your friend to be happy?"

Toph hummed thoughtfully. "Royalty begging for my help does sound a little empowering. And a lifetime of your absence from my personal space sounds even more appealing."

"So you'll do it?" Zuko asked hopefully.

"Wait. I'm not sure about this..." Toph faked. When she felt Zuko's hopefulness dwindle just a bit, she went in for the ace. "But if, for example, I say: can you add a thousand gold pieces to that...?"

"Then I'll say: No problem. I've got plenty."

Toph smiled deviously. Zuko didn't even think twice. He must be dumb or just really, really desperate.

Debating which was which brought a headache to life.

"Oh, what the heck," Toph gave up. She stepped forward, bringing the two of them toe to toe. "You've got yourself a--"

"Don't say D-E-A-L or this whole thing will backfire!" Zuko hissed out.

Toph blew her bangs in exasperation.

"Call it whatever _you _want," Toph poked his chest. "But in Toph speak-- we've got ourselves a deal."

And without any accord, Toph grabbed Zuko's hand, shook it, and the deal was sealed.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**  
Disclaimer:** I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

.Two.

When the fuss on what to call their little deal finally ended, Toph earth bended the soft canyon soil into something similar to a recliner. The peace and relaxation she sought for in the first place was long overdue. So she snuggled down, put her hands behind her head in lieu of pillows, and closed her eyes into a relaxing sleep...

"So tell me," Zuko ordered. "What will make Katara notice me?"

Toph snored loudly. There was no trace of the sulking, the begging and the pitiful state of Zuko's lovelorn heartIt was like the last hour never even happened! It infuriated her that Zuko got over things pretty quickly and went back to his usual hot-tempered self.

"Get up," he told her, chucking pebbles in her direction. "I know you're just pretending to sleep."

_It's a pity there isn't a type of bending that would make people vanish into thin air_, Toph thought nastily.

It seemed to her that Prince Zuko wasted no time getting what he was paying for. A small pouch of one hundred gold pieces was already tucked in her pocket and it galled her that he could, on some level, order her about.

"Wake up. Tell me something about her right now."

A pebble hit her square on the face. Toph directed a cranky glare where she felt Zuko was at the moment. He was sitting across her, with two feet of space between them. His legs were on a meditation-style pose while his back rested on a block of soil she bended for him. His body language was surprisingly relaxed but his other audible language was a totally different matter.

She made a show of shifting and stretching and yawning. "Okay, okay. I'm awake. Happy now?"

Zuko scoffed. "Please. You weren't even asleep."

Toph cross her arms and scowled. "Well, it looks like you could use some beauty rest for that rude attitude."

"I'd rather you tell me about your plan right now."

"What plan?" she wondered.

When she felt Zuko's piercing glares, Toph wanted to roll her eyes in annoyance. But since she physically can't, she just settled on huffing out a loud breath to convey her annoyance. "Okay, okay. Your wish is my command and everything."

Toph sighed heavily, deciding that brutal honesty was the best way to handle this situation. "First and foremost, let me start by saying I have no idea how to solve your dilemma right now."

"What?!" Zuko's eyes blazed dangerously. "Why you double-crossing, little--"

Toph held out a hand to silence Zuko. When it didn't work as she hoped it would, she resorted in making the earth rumble and got the desired result. "Listen. I'm saying this now so that you won't complain and get the gold back if this "transaction" does not succeed. I'm not pulling a scam on you, so don't fret. I am going to help you woo your precious Katara."

Toph breathed in deeply and continued her explanation. "As I was saying, I can't help you right now. I honestly have no idea how to proceed from here. This is one of those first-time situations for me. So we're going to get through this in a trial and error kind of way."

"I thought I hired an expert," Zuko said, "seeing as you're her friend. I see I made a big mistake."

"Yeah well, you get that a lot when you assume." Toph shrugged carelessly. "But then, you got me now to spy on the Katara Camp--"

"In exchange for sky-high fees, of course," Zuko pointed out.

"--which I would like to emphasize, you urgently need if you want to improve your current position in the Katara radar."

"Oh, stop advertising yourself on how I need you in this!" Zuko flared. "I know you're just protecting your money by saying I shouldn't expect every single one of your tips to be sure-fire hits. What if you just make things up to humiliate me?"

"I know it sounds so selfish and careless," Toph said slowly. "But you're right. And I'm not going to deny it."

The two of them fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts. Zuko just sighed every now and then while Toph waited for him to speak up. If he was thinking of backing out from the deal, hey, who was she to stop him?

She tried looking at it from Zuko's side of the bargain and concurred that it didn't look so well. There was a risk for him--the money, the failure, the heartbreak. Whereas for her, this deal was just a glitch in her fifteen-year old life.

She tuned her senses towards Zuko. He was steady but inside, there was turmoil.

Toph had a feeling it was going to take a long while for him to sort things out. So she decided to just shut her eyes for a bit and rest while waiting…

She was startled awake when she heard Zuko start a fire on the space between them. With the cool air surrounding her and the rays of the sun no longer felt, Toph concluded that it was already nighttime.

Not that it mattered to her, of course.

She stretched out mightily and yawned hugely. "Hey, where'd you get that kindling?" she mumbled drowsily.

"I found some dried bushes over there," he answered her curtly.

"You're still here," she pointed out. "So I guess the deal's still on, huh?"

Zuko didn't rise to the bait. He remained silent and kept poking the fire idly.

"Okay, look," Toph offered, rubbing the sleep off her eyes. "Since I don't have anything on Katara yet, why don't we start by fixing you up first."

Zuko blinked twice. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, you said it looked like you had a plague every time she saw you. So I'm making a wild guess that it's you who's doing something wrong."

"Me? But that's preposterous!"

"Well, you grew up in a palace and you're probably used to people obeying you without any complaints. That's why now, when you're chasing after Katara and she runs to the opposite direction, you have no idea what's next step."

"I see your point," he admitted reluctantly. "Vaguely. But it's there. Alright, what should I do?"

Toph hummed thoughtfully. "I suggest you be nice to her. You know, a random act of kindness will go a long way? It's the basic principle, the primary item on every guy's list."

"How am I going to do that?" Zuko asked bewilderedly. "Pretending to be nice is really hard. I don't even get it how other people do it all the time."

"My thoughts exactly. But look at it in this way," she said. "You like Katara coz she's nice right? I like Katara because she's nice. A lot of people like her because she's..?"

"Very nice," Zuko corrected.

"Right. So if you're going to be nice to Katara... see what happens."

Zuko started weaving a daydream of him gallantly rescuing Katara from her heavy scrolls. Katara then gives him a big, heroic kiss.

He smiled at its simplicity. "She'll like me too."

"Yeah!" Toph giggled happily.

"But start slow, okay?" she warned. "Like greeting her and carrying her stuff. Let her get used to the nice Zuko first. Don't flood her with niceties or she'll be irritated."

"Be nice to Katara. Check."

"Okay next: Don't scowl, don't frown, and don't sneer," Toph forbade. "Smile. Show her your manly, heart-melting smile. Smile like you really mean it. Like what you did a while ago."

"Smile. That's easily doable."

"Number Three: Put a leash on your temper when other guys are sniffing around her. I know Katara's one popular chick. So it's natural to have other guys vying for her attention. Do not--in any way--challenge them to a duel. You must show Katara that you're not violent."

"I don't like this," he muttered. "It's like I'm hiding a part of myself."

Toph shrugged, unconcerned. "Well, tough luck. You have to do it."

Zuko sighed pitifully and Toph softened a bit.

"Look, we're trying to impress Katara here with your good qualities. Being temperamental is not a good quality. It scares people away. I know holding back will be hard, but you wouldn't want to completely ruin your chances with her, would you?"

"I guess not."

"Why don't you ask your Uncle Iroh for extra help? He's the only Fire Bender I met who isn't nasty. And you're related to him so it's not entirely impossible."

"Really?" Zuko asked hopefully. Then his brow furrowed. "Wait. What about Tai Li? She's nice."

"Oh, she's a nasty gossip," Toph answered without thinking. When she realized this, she facepalmed herself for that tactless answer.

"Oh," Zuko whispered.

She smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. Oh."

Zuko kept quiet and just stared at the fire in deep thought. "You know, sometimes I wish I could just command her to like me," he said in a quiet voice.

"Call me because I wouldn't want to miss that," Toph told him. "It would be so hilarious I'd probably be laughing for hours!"

Zuko scowled and snarled menacingly. "And what's so funny about that, huh?"

"I just can't imagine Katara bowing down to anybody," she said truthfully. "Her will's just too strong to be tamed. The day it will happen is the same day I can see the world with my own two eyes."

Zuko's lips twitched. "Yeah, that's her alright."

"And if I were to woo her, I wouldn't want her to be any other way," she informed him. "She's great just the way she is."

Zuko sent her a hard look. "Should I be worried you'll swipe her under my nose?"

"Nah. I like guys even if I don't look like I'm interested in 'em," Toph said. "The feel of well-muscled chests and wiry arms are hazards to my heart."

Zuko looked at her in awe. "You're not some innocent, little blind girl, are you?"

Toph smirked. "You bet your butt I'm not.

She stood up and reached for the sky. Zuko also got up and dusted his pants.

"All right. I guess that's it for now," she announced. "Tell me how everything goes. We'll meet each other at the Firebrand Tea House next week for a mid-afternoon snack. In the mean time, I'll try to find some interesting stuff about Katara."

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

** Disclaimer:** I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.  
**  
****  
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**  
**.Three.

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**

Two days before their meeting at the Firebrand Tea House, Toph woke up early.

Oh, how she detested waking up early.

As soon as she opened a bleary eye, the servant, who was tasked to wake her up, ran out of the room.

Toph understood the servant's self-preservation instincts to hide. A lot of people can attest that she was one mean grouch when she lacked sleep.

But she comforted herself that this little sacrifice was for the money. A sackful of money. And the thought of those shiny, gold pieces somehow alleviated her grouchy mood.

Yet this day was still ahead of her, the day she'd been trying to put off as much as possible. When she went to bed last night, she realized the days of the week had gone by so fast. She didn't have a single bit of interesting stuff on Katara and there were only two days left.

So she had to find information in double time or Zuko will hunt her down and burn her to a crisp. 'And the money!' her mind shouted. 'It would be such a waste if I don't even get half of it.'

She forcibly woke herself by slapping her face a few times. Shaking her room would have been more effective but her mother enforced a very strict rule: No Earth Bending inside the vacation house.

And Toph followed this rule even though her mother wasn't there. She hated that lecture about those teeny-tiny cracks scattered all over the house. She always got that one whenever her mother finds a new crack on the some dumb wall after a personal house inspection. It always made her feel awful and guilty for a day or two.

She finally got up from bed, stretched her arms widely, and yawned. When nothing miraculous happened, she resignedly went to the adjoining bath to do her morning business. She decided on taking a cold shower. And regretted it as soon as the cold water hit her. She quickly changed the setting to lukewarm.

It was a good thing that she knew where to find Katara nowadays. It made things easier, considering her time restraints.

Starting this week, Katara was a guest lecturer at the Bellefire Academy, a tuition-free school for Fire Nation kids. She got really excited about the job. Toph remembered her saying she was going to teach children about the people and the history of the Water Nation. The real stuff, she said, not that poison they've been teaching Fire Nation schoolkids for the past decades. Plus, a Water Bending demonstration will also be a part of her lesson plan.

'It would be odd, seeing Katara as a teacher,' Toph thought as she got out of the shower.

Then all other thoughts vanished instantly when she was faced with the mess of untangling her hair. Alone.

When this crisis passed, she chose a solemn, black garb to wear. She felt it suited the situation perfectly because she felt like she was half dead.

Nonetheless, she made her way down the hallway and passed by the dining room where a lavish breakfast was set. She ignored it completely because her stomach made funny noises everytime she ate something this early.

She went to the stables to catch a ride but no one was there. Everyone had gone into hiding. Even the guards. So with the sun shining brightly, she set out towards Bellefire Academy on foot and reveled at this new experience.

'This is the first time I'm going to school,' Toph thought. Or in another point-of-view, she never went out of the mansion to go to school like other kids.

Her dad arranged everything according to his will. He hired the best tutors to give her private lessons and paid them extra to keep her identity hidden from the whole world. During her lessons, the atmosphere was always rigid and it was really lonely. When she wanted to do something challenging, her father never approved because he didn't think she could handle it.

So in protest, she learned advanced Earth Bending from a seven-foot badger-mole living under their garden. It was the start of a whole, new life for her. And on that faithful day when she heard the stable boys talking about Earth Rumble, things started to get really, really exciting.

But after a few meters of walking, she started feeling heavy and sweaty. She thought she'd never say it, but she appreciated her father's over protectiveness now, more than ever, because this walk to school, she realized too late, was sheer hell.

There were so many people on the narrow road, all at the same time. With a crowd of people surrounding her, her senses got clouded and, in that moment, she couldn't see clearly. She felt each individual's presence mold into this one huge Blob of Presence, which single-mindedly moved in one direction.

Her head started to pound in pain. The people behind her started bumping her shoulders because she was slowing down. She endured the shoving and pushing until she had enough of it and mightily tried to fight the wave of people to reach the side of the road. Then a hand suddenly grabbed her wrist and helped her find a way to safety. The simple front steps of a store became her sanctuary.

"Toph? Are you alright?"

'Sokka?'

She sagged against Sokka in relief. The tears that were threatening to burst a while ago flowed out freely. It stung her pride to admit that she got scared. Just a little...

"You look like you're sick-- H-hey!"

Sokka gripped Toph's small shoulders to steady her. He banged the store's closed doors until the shop owner, a shoemaker, opened his shop crankily.

"What do you want, kid? Can't you see we're still closed?"

"Can I ask for a cup of water? I-I think she fainted."

The man looked at the black-haired girl in the arms of the young boy. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"I didn't do anything!" Sokka said quickly.

The shoemaker sighed tiredly but he did open the doors and pull out a chair for Toph. He disappeared behind a curtain and when he came back, he handed Sokka some smelling salts and a cup of water.

After a few seconds of inhaling the smelling salts, Toph woke up for the second time that day.

"Here, drink some water. Tell me, what happened?"

"I got woozy," Toph said in a small voice. "Not used to so many people."

"Morning rush," he told her. "You got caught in it."

"I didn't know." It shamed her that her friend saw her in this state. Her pride was broken into small, jagged pieces. She wanted the ground to gobble her up, but she was too tired to earth bend.

"Did you eat something before going out? What are you doing up so early, anyway?" Sokka asked curiously, well-aware that Toph wasn't a morning person.

"I was going to Bellefire Academy," she said honestly, but left out the rest.

Sokka waited patiently for further elaboration.

When it didn't happen, he let it go for now. "Fine. Then I guess I'll have to make sure you get there all right."

8888888888

Toph made Sokka promise never to tell anyone what happened back there. Sokka complied and headed out to rent a cart. Toph used this time to meditate and bury this incident at the back of her mind, with the intention of never unearthing it again.

When Sokka dropped her off at the Academy, she felt two things right away.

One, Katara's presence and it was buzzing in slight annoyance. Two, Zuko's presence, exuding earnestness to... carry her? Why on earth does Zuko want to carry Katara? With a shake of her head, Toph decided quickly to steer clear from them. If Zuko saw her, he'll find out she wasn't doing her job as she said she would. He might deduct some percentage off her money, which she was trying to avoid as much as possible.

So in the mean time, she figured she could ask Katara's co-workers and superiors some questions. Other people see those little things we normally couldn't see for ourselves, right?

She visited the faculty room but no one was around. In her search for the Principal's Office, she got lost for a while but she did find the Utility Room, the Music Room, and the Geology Lab along the way. When she finally found the Principal's Office, the matronly secretary manning the desk regretfully informed her that the principal wasn't in yet. Since Toph was itching to get some rocks rolling, she decided to make do with the secretary.

They made pointless small talk while Toph was taking advantage of the scrumptious spring rolls and pot of tea that the secretary served. She had to admit, being a member of the Avatar's Inner Circle sure have it's perks.

After her belly was halfway full, she began asking the questions she intended on finding some answers.

"Oh, do I know anything interesting about Katara? Well, she's a sweet child. And very helpful. She's got a mother's instinct, that one. But no one does to her what she does to so many people. Pretty popular with the students. She got them really worked up with her amazing water bending skills."

Toph continued listening patiently even if the answers didn't really satisfy her. They weren't any different from what she already knew. So she stopped weeding out information about Katara and inquired about Zuko instead.

"What's that, dear? Oh, Prince Zuko's here because he's teaching the young ones some basic fire bending. But that's not only why he's here. If you ask me, I think he has his eye on young Katara. They seem inseparable lately."

Curiously, Toph asked how.

"They're always together when I see them. In the corridors, the hallways, and at the Teacher's Lounge. Prince Zuko always wants to do things for her but Katara insists she doesn't want to burden the Prince. It's quite romantic, actually."

But Toph seriously doubted that. She remembered feeling both of their presence earlier. Putting that together with what the old secretary said, it looked like Zuko was overly eager to help out with something and Katara was probably trying to politely decline from his assistance.

And if people saw them together all the time, then this number must happen all the time. Toph sighed in disappointment. She warned him to go slow, but did he listen?

'Heaven, help that boy,' Toph prayed as she finished up her meal. 'He's purposely making this more complicated for me. Curse you, Zuko!'

Hoping for a second serving of food, she hanged around the old secretary's company for a bit more. But when it began to look like there wasn't going to be any, she expressed her whole-hearted thanks and bade good-bye. Then she roamed around the Academy for a bit, taking in the lay of the land. She liked the Academy's rock garden and playing field but the buildings gave her the creeps. When the lunch bell tolled, a flood of children came running out of their classrooms.

She passed by some students talking about Teacher Katara in excited voices. They were showing students (who still did not have the chance to study under Katara) the scrolls she distributed as learning materials.

Toph stopped to ask them what their opinions about their new teacher were.

"She's really cool!" a boy said excitedly. "Not like our boring Geology teacher."

"She doesn't get angry when we're asking too many questions."

"She knows my name," a shy girl answered. "And she called me three times in class today.

"Her lessons are...fairly interesting."

Nothing new, she grumbled. Her last hope was Aang, who in his earlier years harbored a crush on Katara. 'He better know something,' she begged, 'or I'll be toasted without mercy.' So Toph decided to leave the Academy grounds and pay Aang a visit at his guesthouse.

"Hello? Aang? Are you home?"

"Toph?" A familiar voice called out.

Toph gasped out "Suki!" and her eyes widened in excitement. "What are you doing here? I thought you were at Ba Sing Se running your new school."

"I am here at the request of the Avatar," Suki answered formally. "He wants to learn our village's techniques now that he has the time.

"I'm so glad you're here," Impulsively, she hugged Suki like a lifeline. The other girl patted her back awkwardly, surprised at the gesture. When Toph let go, she asked, "By the way, where'd Aang go?"

"He said he was going to visit Katara at the Bellefire Academy today. Did you have lunch yet?" she inquired. "The food here is delicious."

"Nope, not yet." Toph grinned. "I always bring my appetite with me whenever I come here."

With easy camaraderie, the two girls made their way to the banquet hall. They just entered the grand doors when Toph hesitantly called out. "Hey, Suki. Is it okay if I ask you some things while I eat?"

"Of course," Suki said easily. "Just ask away."

Then Toph smiled happily, thinking that this day wasn't as bad as it started out to be.

TBC

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End file.
